Unless you’re living under a rock somewhere, then surely you’ve been exposed to the literally millions of weight loss methods that are ubiquitous on the internet, late night infomercials, magazines, etc. And nearly all those methods have something in common, which is making some company, a lot of money without having to ever support or back up their claims. Because if anyone should happen to fail to lose weight using the company’s product, it isn’t the company’s fault—it’s yours. You don’t have the will power; you didn’t follow the plan exactly or any of a myriad of other reasons that allows them to elude liability. Well there is a sensible way to diet, that won’t cost you any (or very much) money and that’s simply eating less and getting 30 minutes of exercise a day. You can also help yourself out by drinking 5 cups of green tea everyday.
A study published by the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (about green tea weight loss), focused on a component of green tea called, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), and specifically on the effects of EGCG on postprandial, meaning after meals, thermogenesis otherwise known as energy expenditure and fat oxidation which is how your body uses fat energy. In studies going back to the year 1999, participants were placed in four different control groups with one group receiving water, another caffeine, another green tea extract (caffeine plus various levels of EGCG), with the final group given a placebo. The results of the studies showed the green tea group received an increase in energy expenditure (EE) between 2.9% – 3.4% and a fat oxidation increase between 12% – 34%. The water group also showed an increase in EE of 3.4% but only an 8% increase in fat oxidation, while the other two groups (caffeine and placebo) show no remarkable increase. It’s interesting to note here that the study used green tea extract which means doses of EGCG are higher than what one person could comfortably drink in a day. However, the 12% result correlates to an EGCG dosage of 122mg which is the equivalent of 5 cups (100ml servings) of green tea.
Now admittedly, the extra calories that one could burn through the consumption of green tea alone, reported to be around 75 calories in a study done at the University of Geneva, is hardly going to peel away the pounds but that isn’t what is being advocated here. Instead what is being suggested is do as the Japanese do–eat until you’re eighty percent full–and get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, plus drink 5 cups of green tea. This plan isn’t glamorous or super speedy but those 75 calories burned up by drinking green tea could help you with your bathroom scale tipping down.